Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Perceptions Of Future Community And Individual Well-Being In Rural Nebraska, Amanda L. Kowalewski

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Populations of rural areas continue to decline, yet some communities are more vibrant than ever. While past research has studied current satisfaction or well-being, few have examined future well-being. Using an ordinal logistic regression and combining primary and secondary data sources, this study investigates the predictors of rural Nebraskan’s sense of future well-being, both at the community and individual levels. The model indicates that resilience may be more important in well-being than social capital. Additionally, certain satisfaction indicators are more important than others. Factor analysis was employed to re-index variables, and findings were similar. Social capital, resilience, and quality of …